Japanese Emperor Akihito through the years

Reuters archive footage shows Japanese Emperor Akihito through the years, as he drew his three-decade reign to a close on Tuesday.

Rough cut (no reporter narration).

Advertisement

Japanese Emperor Akihito through the years

NO REPORTER NARRATION From his school days to meeting U.S. President Trump, footage from the Reuters archive shows Japanese Emperor Akihito through the years as he drew his three-decade reign to a close on Tuesday (April 30).

Akihito, 85, the first monarch to abdicate in two centuries, had sought to ease the painful memories of World War Two and bring the monarchy closer to the people, including those marginalized in society.

The popular Akihito was the first monarch to take the Chrysanthemum Throne under a post-war constitution that defines the emperor as a symbol of the people without political power.

"To the people who accepted and supported me as a symbol, I express my heartfelt thanks," Akihito, wearing a Western-style morning coat, said at a brief abdication ceremony in the Imperial Palace's Matsu no ma, or Hall of Pine.